


A Series of Conversations

by Merfilly



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Dysfunctional Relationships, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-20
Updated: 2007-06-20
Packaged: 2017-12-08 03:36:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/756565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is my take on how Oliver and DInah could have made things work again</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Series of Conversations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dreamsofnever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamsofnever/gifts).



> While not originally written for Dreamsofnever, our shared love for the pairing has me dedicating this one to her

_post League fight with Slade_

He picked up the phone, surprised by the Caller ID that was showing.

"Pretty Bird?"

"Hey…just…"

He knew she was hurting all over again. So many nights, after they had abandoned the League, run away from California to settle in Seattle, they had talked it out, trying to see where they had gone wrong.

Back then, Hal had joined them, and they had been miserable together. Now, she was on one coast, and he was on the other…while Hal was dead-yet-not-dead.

"We couldn't go against the rules. Not then…we learned, though. You made it right in the charter when J'onn's League banded together."

"Still…"

"We can't change _then_. All we can do is fix _now_."

"I can't even look Bruce in the eye."

"Neither can I, Pretty Bird…but I'd say we've paid…us and Barry both." Flashes of Barry's funeral, of seeing Dinah _like that_ , losing Hal to insanity, his own death all crossed his mind. Yes, they had paid dearly.

"Yeah." She took a deep breath. "Thanks, Ollie…for everything."

"Anytime, Pretty Bird."

`~`~`~`~`

_World Without a Justice League_

She answered the phone absently, not even checking the ID. She was still too shaken by the events that had brought the hero world almost to its knees…culminating in the disbanding of yet another League.

Maybe, the League just wasn't meant to be.

"Dinah here," she said, falling back on her blonde voice.

"It's Ollie."

He sounded tired…miserable, she'd say.

"Dawn?"

"Is fine…but she chose to follow a different path than one with me," he said, somewhat resigned now. She bit back several scathing replies about women and leaving. He was, in the end, her friend, and deserved more than her rubbing salt in wounds.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She was amazed at how much sincerity she felt; it made her see she did want him happy with someone.

"I shouldn't have ever been in it."

Now, Dinah felt cold shock in her veins, at hearing Ollie admit _that_.

"No, you shouldn't have." She could not help but agree, her own views on fidelity rising to the surface. His dry chuckle warmed her ears though.

"One of the things I have always respected in you, Pretty Bird…you don't cut your pull a bit."

They both hung up smiling.

`~`~`~`~`

_Battle For Metropolis_

She'd been working with him off and on since the whole Crisis started, but seeing her now…the nurturing angel…leaves him with a firm intention to not screw up the warmth of their renewed friendship. 

"He's going to be fine," Ollie said, a bit gruff with his own worry.

"I know. He's a fighter."

"Takes that from you." He saw as his words pleased her, made her smile softly as she wiped Roy's face gently.

"Gets his stubborn from you."

Ollie started to retort, because he knew who had won most of their household arguments…until he remembered the things that should have been argued that she had refused to fight him on.

"Probably." He placed his hands on top of Roy's draw hand, watching his original sidekick, the man he saw as his firstborn, blood be damned, to keep from meeting Dinah's eyes.

"I'm going to the Memorial…" Her voice was so soft, he couldn't help but look at her. "I'd like it if you would go with me." The pain of too many funerals was on her face, and he knew, deep in his soul, that she was not reaching out just because he is the one there.

She was reaching for the one she had shared the most grief with and because of.

"Of course, Dinah." 

`~`~`~`~`

_Before Star City and Merlyn_

She couldn't sleep, couldn't get comfortable…and Oracle had been very short with her on her last check if there were any new leads.

She rolled to her stomach, and pulled her phone over to her…if she guessed right, he should be just getting in from patrol.

"Dinah?" As quickly as he answered, she was pretty sure he was on his way upstairs to the shower.

"Yes, Ollie." She took a deep breath. "Any luck hunting the Society?"

"Something's stirring, but I don't have a definite lead yet."

His frustration bled through in his voice, and perversely brought a smile to her lips. Oliver with a mission was one of the many faces she had loved…when he didn't let the mission block his responsibilities.

"I've had a few ghost chases. Oracle's tired of me pushing her to find more," Dinah admitted.

"Always were driven," he murmured softly. "Admired that."

"Not just the pretty face and long legs?" she teased, wondering when she had gotten that comfortable with him again. Maybe it was all these late night/early morning talks. She really had missed sharing their views.

"No, Pretty Bird…I always knew you were far more than your looks," he said, completely sincere.

She paused, drew in a long breath, and let it out. "I know, Oliver. I knew then, too."

"Good night, Dinah," he told her gently, with that grace he had come to use when their talks got too close to personal.

"Good night, Ollie."

`~`~`~`~`

_Post Merlyn and Star City_

Mia was thankful the phone had not bit the big one, as she focused on it to keep her mind straight. 

"Dinah, please…" She cut herself off as it was picked up.

"Ollie?!"

"No…it's Mia….Whoa; hold on…he's going to be okay," she began, hoping her own doubt on that did not bleed through.

"I saw the news…" Dinah's voice was small, and that made Mia wonder…were the old feelings stirring for her guardian and his former lady, or was this really just friendship, like Ollie insisted?

"It was bad, and he is hurt…but we've got him. We're going to disappear, so he gets better before he rushes back out there."

"Okay…Mia…" She chopped herself off, then started again. "Tell him I'll miss him."

"I will, Dinah."

`~`~`~`~`

_After the island_

"I did a lot of thinking." His voice is good to hear, and she almost told him how much she missed him…but he had beaten her to it on this first phone call.

"You know, that is a dangerous thing for you. One of your less well-armed areas," she teased. She enjoyed the low chuckle he gave before he got serious again.

"I know where I screwed up with you. You laid it out all nice and pretty and harsh when I first got back from being dead." 

"Oliver…"

"No, Pretty Bird, listen to me." He swallowed, a very audible noise. "And when you decided we could see each other, I should have let that be enough. I shouldn't have strayed."

"You and I had made no commitments," she told him, voice carefully neutral. "That's not why…"

"I know. I know it's because I wouldn't let you in. After Joanna…"

Dinah felt her chest clench as he struggled to find just the right words. 

"After Joanna was killed, I decided then and there, selfishly, that I could not…would not…see **you** in danger because of me ever again. And yes, Dinah….I know you're the better fighter, you can take care of yourself, and every other argument you ever raised when I would try this mess…but…I couldn't even think I might bury you. So I shoved you away, to keep from ever being the cause of your death."

The prettier of the two blonds had to take a long moment to collect herself, and her long-time friend, onetime lover forged on.

"I'm sorry, Pretty Bird. And I wish…I wish I could try it all over."

"Oliver…I wish we could too."

`~`~`~`~`

_before Dinah leaves_

He ran his hand over his hair; it had been damn hard to get this job, and talking to her through it had kept him sane.

"You have to?"

"Yes, Oliver. I do. It's a chance to save Sensei's student…and a chance for me to maybe become better."

He wanted to tell her how good she already was. He wanted to make her see this kind of training could possibly break her…he wasn't sure he had survived his own intact.

"Be safe, Dinah. I'll be here when you get back."

`~`~`~`~`

_After Dinah's return_

She had, in her own way, hated calling him for the favor, the one that let her bring a foreign child into the States. She had no illusions that it had hurt him, to know she was adopting a child, even after all these years, when they had failed to have one.

When they had failed to continue as a couple.

The long weeks of uncertain life, the training, and the long absence of Oliver's voice before that had made Dinah think too hard.

She had been angry in the village, angry he was back under her skin. Or, so she told herself.

In truth, when she got bluntly honest with herself, she knew their friendship, confined to the phone for the most part over the last year and a half, had steadily shown her an Oliver Queen who was not the same man she had left.

Maybe it was maturity. Made it was the hard choices catching up to him, but Dinah was well aware she liked the man shining back at her in that voice.

"Hello Pretty Bird," he said softly as he answered.

"Hi, Ollie…can we talk…"

`~`~`~`~`

_Post Birds Of Prey 100_

"I miss the dancing."

He had not expected that. With his schedule, he still had not seen her, knew she was still settling into her new place.

"The dancing?"

"Yes." He loved the sound of that smile, the devilish one that told him she was truly happy right now. He hated that she had come to the abrupt crossroads with Oracle. She had seemed happy on that team. But, with what Hal was trying with her…and with Roy willing to go along with them, he thought he understood. She wanted her family back, and her family had always included the League.

"We'll have to try that some time, if I can remember how," he told her.

"Oh, I'm sure you do, Ginger."

`~`~`~`~`

_Issue 74, Green Arrow, version 3_

"They're going to think we're insatiable," Ollie rumbled, his voice a basso tone under her ear on his chest.

"You love perpetuating the myth." She looked up at him warmly. "Tell me, Oliver…do you think…"

He placed his finger on her lips, gently. "Pretty Bird…I do." They had come back, and yes, they had made love with the adrenaline still flowing in their veins…but sleep and cuddling had been just as important in forging this new thing, the one that they hesitated to call a relationship just yet. 

He shifted, getting out of bed to pull his pants back on, surprising her. He flicked the radio on, and listened to the music a long moment before holding his hand out to her.

"Care to dance, Fred?" he asked her. The look of love in her eyes was a look he planned never to dampen again.


End file.
